The sale of disposable vapes will be banned in the United Kingdom from Sunday, as the country becomes the latest to tackle the \u201cenvironmental nightmare\u201d of the single-use devices. However, some campaigners warn that the new restrictions are just \u201ca drop in the ocean\u201d in the war against plastic waste. <\/p>\n
The ban positions the UK among the first countries in Europe to legislate against disposable vapes, following similar moves in France and Belgium. <\/p>\n
An estimated 8.2 million disposable vapes \u2013 the equivalent of 13 every second \u2013 are discarded in the UK every week, according to an analysis released by environmental group Material Focus in December. <\/p>\n
In official guidance, the UK government described the disposable vapes as \u201ceyesores,\u201d and said their widespread disposal has \u201ca hugely damaging impact on our environment and wildlife.\u201d The plastics used in disposable vape products are \u201cnearly impossible for nature to completely break down,\u201d it added. <\/p>\n
Improperly discarded batteries can ignite rubbish trucks and waste facilities, it added, with Material Focus linking such incidents to around 1,200 fires between May 2023 and May 2024. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe ban will also help curb the rise in youth vaping,\u201d the government said. \u201cOver half of children who use vapes report that \u2018disposable\u2019 models are their product of choice.\u201d <\/p>\n
The legislation will not criminalize possession of disposable vapes. Instead, it targets retailers and distributors, who could face initial penalty fines of \u00a3200 ($270) for violations after Sunday. For continued breaches of the new law, an offender could be hit with further fines or a prison sentence. <\/p>\n
For those already tackling the environmental fallout, the ban is long overdue. <\/p>\n
\u201cVape producers are being infinitely creative with their products in order to avoid the forthcoming disposable vape ban,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n
Anticipating the shift, major vape manufacturers began adapting their product lines ahead of the legislation <\/strong>coming into force. <\/p>\n But, on the ground, one London retailer warned that consumer habits may prove harder to shift. <\/p>\n \u201cThe new vapes are also more expensive, which is more difficult for customers,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n Ahead of the ban coming into force, John Dunne, director general of the UK Vaping Industry Association, said in a statement: \u201cWe\u2019ve always maintained that bans are not the answer to the issues linked to the vaping industry, but enforcement of the laws that are already in place to protect children and the environment.\u201d He warned that the measure could lead to a increase in vapers returning to cigarette smoking and create a black market for disposable products. <\/p>\n Vape use has surged in recent years. An estimated 5.6 million people vape in the UK, according to a survey carried out by public health charity Action on Smoking and Health last year. <\/p>\n Disposable vapes have proved popular among young adults trying to quit smoking, but their sleek design, bright packaging and sweet flavors have also appealed to teenagers. Almost 1 in 10 secondary school pupils in the UK vape \u201cfrequently,\u201d according to a National Heath Service survey <\/strong>published in October, and a quarter of 11- to 15-year-olds have tried vaping. <\/p>\n \u201cI would just put them in the bin, it didn\u2019t feel like the right way,\u201d said 17-year-old Brighton student Eaben Kusik. \u201cIt felt a bit wasteful throwing <\/strong>(away) <\/strong>the battery with the vape after three days. <\/p>\n \u201cAt first I thought, \u2018I don\u2019t like the government banning things,\u2019 but I think it\u2019s a good thing,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n For environmental organization Greenpeace UK, the move marks progress \u2013 but not nearly enough. <\/p>\n A separate Tobacco and Vapes Bill, currently making its way through parliament, would give ministers power to further restrict vape packaging, flavors, and marketing \u2013 particularly those seen as targeting children. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The sale of disposable vapes will be banned in the United Kingdom from Sunday, as…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17414,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17413"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17413\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}